The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Miscanthus sinensis herein referred to as ‘M77’.
The new Miscanthus sinensis is a product of a planned research, evaluation, and testing program conducted by the Inventors in Tifton, Ga. The objective of the Miscanthus sinensis research program is to create a new plant cultivar with reduced seed production. This cultivar is commercially important for its superior ornamental value and low seed production. These and other qualities are enumerated herein.
There is a need for a seed sterile Miscanthus cultivar because Miscanthus cultivars produce higher seed set at higher elevations which tend to make this genus invasive. Unprotected roots of respective groups of 59, 44, and 49 Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ plants were irradiated with 4-, 8-, and 12-Kr, respectively, of Cobalt 60 radiation and transplanted to a test field at Tifton, Ga. on Apr. 21, 2006. On Aug. 9, 2006, 37 and 1 plants were observed to have survived the 4-Kr treatment, and one plant was observed to have survived the 8-Kr treatment. Seven plants from the 4-Kr treated plants had tillers with reduced seed set. One plant, designated 4-22-1-1, had tillers with no seed set. A culm from 4-22-1-1 was designated M8-4 in 2008 and observed for seed set thru 2009 at Tifton, Ga. (elevation about 350 ft.). In 2010, M8-4 was designated as M8 and planted at Blairsville, Ga. (elevation about 1,880 ft.) in 2010. In 2010, M8 produced one seed per inflorescence at Tifton, Ga. and no seed at Blairsville, Ga. while the Miscanthus sinensis ‘Gracillimus’ control plants produced numerous seeds per inflorescence at both locations in non-replicated tests. The seed sterile plant observed at Blairsville, Ga. (high elevation) was designated ‘M77’. This ‘M77’ plant was then asexually propagated by vegetative propagation. The resulting ‘M77’ plants were tested at Tifton, Ga. and Blairsville, Ga. in replicated tests from 2012 thru 2015. Tests consisted of five and three single plant replications arranged in a randomized complete block experiment at Tifton, Ga. and Blairsville, Ga., respectively.
Asexual reproduction of the new Miscanthus ‘M77’ by vegetative propagation (single stem propagules) in a controlled environment in Tifton, Ga. and Blairsville, Ga. since 2012, has shown that the unique features of this new Miscanthus sinensis cultivar are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.